Over at Andy’s Goode Life, there’s a “blog carnival” going on that asks those of us attempting this craziness a few questions. I decided to tackle the palate fatigue question, as it’s something I always deal with at Wine Festivals and during Wine Judging.

I have my own tips for Wine Festival Survival. These tips are geared for people who are heading to wine festivals to try new wines, learn new things, and not get generally hammered. If you’re judging or experiencing a wine event (like TasteCamp), I can’t stress spitting and munching enough. Crackers and cookies have always helped me with palate fatigue. I always have munchies with me, as well as bottled water, with me at wine events. Never count on your host to have those handy - you just never know.

Here are some general tips for getting through an overwhelming wine festival, and many of these apply to wine events as well.

1. Make a game plan. Usually you can find a map online that shows you the location of various wineries and what they’re offering. Plan ahead. See what looks interesting. Accept that you can’t possibly try everything. You may want to decide to divide and conquer within your group of friends.

2. Eat a big meal before hand. You’ll stay sober longer. You may wan

t to follow your festival experience with a large meal afterwards.

3. Consider a designated driver, cab service, or hotel room.

4. Dress comfortably. There is no need for high heels. Pull out your Easy Spirits, ladies. You can look cute and trendy and leave the stilettos at home. You will be walking a lot, standing even more, and jostling in and out of a lot of people. Also, expect it to be warm in the tasting hall. Lots of people can do that to a room.

5. Since we’re talking about clothes, wear dark colors. Even if you manage to avoid spilling red wine on yourself, someone else might very well careen into you. Lots of people + lots of alcohol = Tide Stain Sticks and dark colors.

6. Get there early. People start filtering in late and things get crowded. Enjoy being early.

7. Spit.
What? Yes, I said spit. It’s actually an accepted practice. Some thoughts on spitting:

• Carry your own spit cup. Dixie cups work, as well as those Solo plastic cups. When a table is crowded, it’s hard to get to the bucket, nor do you want to be in someone else’s spit stream. Also, it’s easier to be discreet when you are spitting into your own cup.
• Dump instead of spit. I don’t spit at the Wine Festival. Judging a wine competition, it doesn’t bother me. But in our weird lack-of-spitting city, I get really self-conscious. So I take a small sip or two, try to really glean something out of it, and dump the rest of the wine into the bucket. It’s expected. You’re not wasting wine or hurting anyone’s feelings.

8. Take breaks every 30 minutes or so to have some snacks and water, as well as to regroup.

9. Hydrate, and wine doesn’t count. Bring water if they aren’t handing it out. But you’ll definitely want some handy.

10. Stop by the bathroom periodically – not just to use the facilities, but to really rinse out your glass. It doesn’t take long for your wine glass to be sticky and filled with the residue of previous tastes.

11. Manage your route so that you visit the sparkling wine and champagne in between big wines. Sparklers are excellent palate cleansers.

12. When possible, rinse out your glass with wine instead of water and then dump. It works better – trust me.

13. Don’t try to take detailed tasting notes. Sometimes I just rate things on my scale, occasionally I’ll write a sentence. There will be no time for detailed information, nor will you really have free hands or space for writing.

14. Try new things and don’t ignore the little and/or local guys. Just because you haven’t heard of them doesn’t mean they’re bad. Truly, some of the booths have the name of the distributor, but they might be featuring three or four different wineries. This is a perfect opportunity to branch out and explore a little. Who knows what you’ll find?

15. Start at the end. Most people will start at the beginning. Starting at the end (or back) will allow you to fight a smaller crowd - at least until you make it to the middle.

16. Carry a small bottle of Wine Away or a Tide Stain Stick. Even if you don’t need it, someone else might. I mentioned dark clothing, yes?

17. Save those dessert wines for last. One year I succumbed to temptation and had the Trentadue chocolate port early on. As tasty as it was, my next 10 wines still tasted like chocolate.

18. If you’re tired, stop. Your body - and your palate - will tell you when you’re finished.

19. Most importantly, have a fantastic time!